Well, bugger me!
Am now living in UK!
To start at the beginning...jumped on a plane at 7pm on Sunday of Labour weekend. Can definitely recommend Emirates. Got to fly Biz Class too which made it just that little bit better (okay a lot better!) Had a stopover in Melbourne for about an hour and a half and after a marathon 14 and a half hour flight to Dubai. A two and a half stopover in Dubai (a much needed shower and a spot of window shopping) and then back on the plane and away!
Arrived @ Heathrow and the bloody taxi driver was over an hour late! Just what I needed after a 36 hour commute to a new job! It was also persisting down with rain which was a real downer - thought to myself - what the hell have I done! The hotel though was much better than expected too. Normally Brit hotels are a trifle dodgy (apologies to all the Brits) but this was quite nice - Regency Park should you ever need to know.
Went for a walk (in the rain) and got in supplies (yes it was chippys and cheese and crackers). Managed to last until about 6.30pm before falling asleep on the bed. Not bad! Of course, woke at about 6am the next day but that was okay.
I got a hire car so decided to venture into Newbury itself. Had heard many bad stories about it but have to say it wasn't as small and grubby as I'd pictured in my head. In fact parts were quite nice. Here's a pic of the canal going through the centre of town.
The main street is about a kilometre long and has all the shops you'd expect including M&S. I did a spot of shopping - well bought the latest Empire magazine and then toddled off back to hotel and started the first of the 'sitting in a room on your own' afternoons/evenings!
Next day it was house hunting with our agent, Stephen. He showed me six houses - a couple of which were OK. In fact, one was damn near perfect. Piccie here...
Was a great wee place with two up/two down, a big garden and smack bang in the middle of nowhere in a hamlet (wasn't even big enought to call a village) called Brightwalton Holt.
Unfortunately, it went that afternoon and we missed out - never mind.
After a full on day it was exceptionally nice to relax with a glass of wine (chilean...large) with Sarah Williams and Michael who's been over here for the last three months. We met at the Lock, Stock and Smoking Barrell pub and after a few quiets, we headed off to grab a curry. Apparently this curry house was below the apartment where Chris Gent and the other guy first set up Vodafone 20 odd years ago. First impressions with this curry house weren't great. The musty odour that assaulted you as you walked in the door was quite overpowering. But we soldiered on coz it was the Vodafone restaurant after all. Luckily, after one more glass of wine, the smell disappeared (or we got used to it). The food was bloody superb actually and the company was awesome so a pleasant night had by all. Of course, we found out later it was the wrong restaurant and the right one is quite nice actually but hey - you get that!
Well, I'd better get on and do some work. Will update you on the next couple of days soon.
Take care all and blog back soon!
Am now living in UK!
To start at the beginning...jumped on a plane at 7pm on Sunday of Labour weekend. Can definitely recommend Emirates. Got to fly Biz Class too which made it just that little bit better (okay a lot better!) Had a stopover in Melbourne for about an hour and a half and after a marathon 14 and a half hour flight to Dubai. A two and a half stopover in Dubai (a much needed shower and a spot of window shopping) and then back on the plane and away!
Arrived @ Heathrow and the bloody taxi driver was over an hour late! Just what I needed after a 36 hour commute to a new job! It was also persisting down with rain which was a real downer - thought to myself - what the hell have I done! The hotel though was much better than expected too. Normally Brit hotels are a trifle dodgy (apologies to all the Brits) but this was quite nice - Regency Park should you ever need to know.
Went for a walk (in the rain) and got in supplies (yes it was chippys and cheese and crackers). Managed to last until about 6.30pm before falling asleep on the bed. Not bad! Of course, woke at about 6am the next day but that was okay.
I got a hire car so decided to venture into Newbury itself. Had heard many bad stories about it but have to say it wasn't as small and grubby as I'd pictured in my head. In fact parts were quite nice. Here's a pic of the canal going through the centre of town.
The main street is about a kilometre long and has all the shops you'd expect including M&S. I did a spot of shopping - well bought the latest Empire magazine and then toddled off back to hotel and started the first of the 'sitting in a room on your own' afternoons/evenings!
Next day it was house hunting with our agent, Stephen. He showed me six houses - a couple of which were OK. In fact, one was damn near perfect. Piccie here...
.jpg)
Was a great wee place with two up/two down, a big garden and smack bang in the middle of nowhere in a hamlet (wasn't even big enought to call a village) called Brightwalton Holt.
Unfortunately, it went that afternoon and we missed out - never mind.
After a full on day it was exceptionally nice to relax with a glass of wine (chilean...large) with Sarah Williams and Michael who's been over here for the last three months. We met at the Lock, Stock and Smoking Barrell pub and after a few quiets, we headed off to grab a curry. Apparently this curry house was below the apartment where Chris Gent and the other guy first set up Vodafone 20 odd years ago. First impressions with this curry house weren't great. The musty odour that assaulted you as you walked in the door was quite overpowering. But we soldiered on coz it was the Vodafone restaurant after all. Luckily, after one more glass of wine, the smell disappeared (or we got used to it). The food was bloody superb actually and the company was awesome so a pleasant night had by all. Of course, we found out later it was the wrong restaurant and the right one is quite nice actually but hey - you get that!
Well, I'd better get on and do some work. Will update you on the next couple of days soon.
Take care all and blog back soon!
posted by GeoffandBridge at
11:25 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home